The Replacement
by Cloud Clavell
Summary: With Storm Shadow gone, Cobra needs a new ninja. Have they decided Kamakura will do? Rating M for safety, OC mentioned briefly, but focus is on the ninjas of the Joe team  because they are easily the coolest characters
1. Chapter 1

**TAKEN**

Due to his ninja training, Kamakura didn't open his eyes and groan as soon as consciousness returned. All around him, people were doing just that, but he had been taught in a harder school. Instead, he lay there, motionless, trying to regain some sense of where he was and what was going on.

First things first: touch. He was lying on a cold, hard metal surface, with ridges in it. It was jolting and shuddering and he had a sense of movement.

_Truck._

His hands were tied behind his back – no, not rope, plastic tie. Harder to slip out of. His ankles had been bound with the same. From the weight of his uniform, they'd removed _all _of his weaponry.

Next, smell. Diesel, confirming the truck theory. Sweat, blood: others with him, some of them wounded. Kamakura shifted as the truck went over a bump, rolled slightly, and felt someone's breath on his face. His insides twisted as he smelt a familiar sugary strawberry scent – _oh God, not Breaker, we're dead if they have Breaker _– then relaxed as he remembered watching, from the corner of his eye that morning, as a pretty dark-haired greenshirt had sidled up to Breaker and asked for a piece of gum, her lashes batting like mad even while she kept a wary eye peeled for Beach Head's return. Breaker had given her his last piece, looking totally stunned as he did so.

Hearing: engine noises, soft sighs, the clink of metal jolting against metal. Kamakura hadn't mastered the Ear that Sees yet, but even he could tell there were two types of people breathing: the unconscious soldiers around him and higher above, the harsher breathing of conscious people.

These observations had taken him all of two seconds to realise and process. Now he moved into the really high-risk area. With a quick, silent prayer for luck, he cracked an eyelid open.

He was surrounded by greenshirts, all lying tied as he was. On benches sat Cobra troops, staring straight ahead with stony faces. Kamakura quickly closed his eye again before any of them noticed.

He was in trouble alright.

* * *

><p>The plastic ties were the main problem. He just couldn't slip them. Snake Eyes had taught him how to get out of handcuffs and rope, but the plastic was biting into his wrists, and wouldn't slip down. He had been searched so thoroughly that he had no knives to cut it with.<p>

_Had the soldiers around him been searched so carefully?_

Kamakura waited until the next big bump came, then managed to roll so that his hands were resting against a greenshirt's boots. He knew that the Marine recruits to the Joe team this time around kept knives in their boots. Now, he winkled one out of its hiding place, and tucked it in his hands, his movements at snail's pace to avoid catching their notice.

At the next big pothole, he made his move. The plastic could have been cut before his body hit the floor again; instead, he left it intact, and slipped the knife into his sleeve instead. He had no idea how this situation would play out, but he thought it might be best not to reveal he was conscious yet.

_What happened? To the battle? All of these people are greenshirts... where are the Joes?_

He couldn't remember anything. Taking a deep breath, Kamakura determined not to panic. _Play it cool. Don't let them know you're awake._

"Hey," he heard one Viper say to another, "ain't it time to give the ninja the next shot?"

_To hell with playing it cool!_

Kamakura leapt to his feet, slicing the plastic tie at the same time. Two Vipers were advancing on him, one holding a syringe; that syringe was buried in his own neck before he could blink. The knife was lodged in the second's throat almost as quickly.

The problem, Kamakura realised, as he felt something heavy slam against the back of his head, sending him into unconsciousness once again, was that he hadn't stopped to check if there had been anyone standing behind him.

**What happened in the battle? Where is Snake Eyes? Why was Kamakura kidnapped? Tune in next week for these answers and more!**


	2. Chapter 2

**THE BALLAD OF SEAN COLLINS**

"Sean? Oh, Sean..."

Kamakura groaned and stirred. His head was pounding, he could feel blood on his face, and his wrists were aching from the restraints –

_Restraints?_

With a jerk, his eyes opened.

He was in a cell, white tiles on every surface, a drain on the floor leading to a grate. He grimaced. Generally, a prisoner was placed in a room like this because the captors expected lots of blood to be spilled. Tiles were used because they were easy to hose off. In the corner, a camera was pointed at his face. In front of him stood Mindbender, flanked by two Vipers.

"Sean," Mindbender said courteously. "How are you feeling?"

Kamakura, suddenly aware of a burning in his shoulders, glanced sideways. He was shackled to the wall, arms stretched out wide. Another band circled his chest. His feet, on the other hand...

"What do you want?" he growled.

Mindbender's face twitched. Kamakura had nowhere near Cheshire's ability to read faces – hell, nobody did – but even he could tell that Mindbender was ticked off by something.

"We'll get back to that," Mindbender promised. "For now, I need you to look appropriately cowed and in pain."

Kamakura's eyes narrowed. "I don't think I heard that clearly."

Mindbender stepped forwards. "I said you have to look – ulk!"

Kamakura, the instant Mindbender had stepped close enough, had swung his foot up as hard as he could, clipping the scientist on the jaw and sending his teeth clattering together. Mindbender stumbled back, eyes glazing over.

The Vipers sprang into action. One lunged forwards and clubbed Kamakura in the face with the butt of his pistol; the other helped Mindbender to his feet. Kamakura was pleased to notice that there was a significant flow of blood coming from the scientist's mouth.

"Cute," Mindbender snarled through a mouthful of blood. "Oh, very cute. Let's see how long you keep that up!"

He slammed his hand on a button in the wall, holding it down. For a moment, nothing happened, then Kamakura spasmed against his restraints as a current of electricity coursed through his restraints and into his body. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he thrashed in his bonds.

Mindbender removed his hand from the button. In front of him, Sean Collins sagged in his restraints, head lolling forwards, eyes half open and unseeing. "Better," Mindbender snarled. "Much better."

Then he swept from the room.

* * *

><p><strong>Several Hours Earlier...<strong>

Jinx dodged a bullet, pulled her knife out of a Viper's eye, and ducked for cover, just as a spray of automatic gunfire raked the ground where she had been standing. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she checked the scene behind her.

It was like a scene from a nightmare. Blistering heat, blazing sunlight, heat waves shimmering and distorting the scene around her. Through the haze she could see Beach Head and Leatherneck, yelling directions as they desperately tried to hold off the advance of the Cobra troops. There was a flicker of white to her right, as Tommy took out three of the front-runners. Cover Girl's Wolverine was a black leviathan to her left as it took on three HISS tanks at once. The other Joes were strung out over the valley floor, fighting their own battles.

Behind her rock, Jinx took a deep breath, wiped the sweat from her eyes, and lunged out of cover, scanning for areas where the Joes might need help.

There! A cluster of greenshirts were pinned down by snipers, with Vipers advancing on them in a flanking manoeuvre. They were in trouble.

Jinx sprinted to their aid. Over a hundred metres away, on the opposite side of the valley, she registered Tommy heading straight for the sniper nest. She didn't envy them.

Thirty minutes later, and she and her cousin had cut their way to the centre of the valley. As the last heads parted company with their respective Viper bodies, Jinx lowered her sword wearily.

"Running out of steam?" Storm Shadow teased.

"I'm doing better than you, old man," she replied instantly, albeit with less than her usual vigour. Her cousin's uniform was dark with sweat. "God, it's so _hot_ here."

"Wears you down, doesn't it?" he agreed, sheathing his weapons gracefully. "I think that's all of them."

A bullet whipped past his head, causing them both to hit the dust instantly. Tommy raised his head cautiously. Snake Eyes was standing above him; he casually extended his hand to Jinx, holstering the Uzi he had just fired with the other. *Actually,* he signed, nodding towards a Viper that was sprawled fifty metres away from Tommy, a rifle clutched loosely in his hands, *That was all of them. And he was a step away from shooting you in the back. Didn't you hear him?*

Tommy shook his head, looking ashamed. "Wind was in the wrong direction. Those bloody tanks don't help either. Thanks."

Jinx shook her head and grinned. "See if I let you forget _that_ anytime soon."

Beach Head stomped up out of the dust, grunting when he saw them all together. "Infantry gone, spooks?"

"Dead and gone," Tommy confirmed. "Snipers too, or the ones too stupid to run, at least."

"Cover Girl is wrapping up the tanks..." There was a fiery explosion a few hundred metres away, as if to underline Beach Head's words. "She'll be done soon."

"The general stayed where he was meant to?" Jinx asked, coughing from the dust.

"Nah," Beach told her. "He was gonna, but then there were these Vipers that thought his jeep was empty..."

The three ninjas winced. Hawk was intimidating when he _wasn't_ angry at you. Snake Eyes and Jinx had seen him in combat before; Snake Eyes had privately thought to himself that it might be quicker, less painful and much less scary to simply shoot yourself if you saw Hawk charging towards you on the battlefield.

"To be fair," Scarlett said, joining them, "He did only chase the Viper down so that he could put the poor man out of his misery, and he did return to the jeep more or less straight after."

"Less bein' the key word there," Beach growled. "He just _happened_ to stumble across a coupla Vipers on the way back." Snake Eyes grinned under his mask. Hawk was a man after his own heart.

*Is everyone alright?* he signed to Beach Head.

Beach Head grunted. "Everyone got scattered when we were ambushed. Ah sent Dusty and Outback out to bring them all in. We're rendezvousing near the road."

Five minutes later, and the road was the scene of organised chaos. Cover Girl was attempting to park her tank, the pilots were standing around calculating wind currents, and Hawk was conferring with his intelligence agents, trying to work out what had happened, what needed to happen and what was most likely to happen.

In the midst of all the chaos, it still took Snake Eyes less than ten minutes to realise his apprentice was missing.


	3. Chapter 3

**MISSING**

"'He's missing'." Jinx was speaking for both herself and Snake Eyes, and hers was a scary voice at the moment. Dial Tone, backed up against a truck with Snake Eyes and Jinx boxing him in, looked as if he would sell a kidney and give away his liver for free to be anywhere but here. "What do you mean 'he's missing'?"

"I..." Dial Tone stammered. "His comm., he's not answering it, and the greenshirts he was sent to rescue aren't talking either, it's..."

"WHAT!" That bellow came from Beach Head, who had just overheard Scarlett briefing Hawk. Now he bulled through Storm and Snake Eyes to grab Dial Tone by the front of his shirt. "MAH GREENSHIRTS ARE WHAT?"

"Beach Head!" Hawk's voice cracked through the air like a whip. "_Put him_ _down_."

Breathing heavily, Beach Head did so.

"Dial Tone, tell me what's going on quickly and clearly," Hawk instructed.

"Kamakura wasn't around, so Snake came to ask me to get him up on the comm.," Dial Tone babbled in relief. "He's not answering. Jinx told me he saw some greenshirts in trouble and went to help them. The two she identified to me aren't answering either."

Beach Head spun around and bellowed at the crowd that were gathering behind them, "Greenshirts FORM UP!"

There was a scurry of movement, and nine people formed four ragged lines. To everyone, it was obvious that there were gaps within the ranks. Beach Head eyed them and grunted. "Four missin'. Damn it!"

Storm Shadow, Stalker and Spirit hurried into camp and made a beeline for Hawk. "Ambush," Stalker said directly. "We saw the greenies' tracks, and Kamakura's. The bastards lured them in with a couple of Vipers, then launched this at them." He held up a canister of some kind that had a sweet, cloying scent still drifting from it. "We followed the second set of tracks to a smaller side road. Some kind of truck took off from there."

"How long ago did you see Kamakura go to help the greenshirts, Jinx?" Hawk demanded.

Jinx wracked her brain. "At least an hour ago, sir."

Snake Eyes punched the side of the truck in a rare fit of frustration. Jinx clenched her fists and cursed. "Alright," Hawk said, taking charge of the situation. "We need to get back to base and co-ordinate. We got some good intel from this raid, we need to analyse that immediately. Snake Eyes, you rope in anyone who can help locate Kamakura and the greenshirts who isn't working on the documents from this raid."

Snake Eyes was so tense Hawk was surprised he wasn't crackling. Slowly, he nodded.

"Alright, let's move out, people!" he called to the other Joes.

As they did so, he stepped out of sight behind a truck, and sagged. He had foreseen this the instant Storm Shadow had woken up from his coma. He had known this would happen. He just hadn't expected it to happen to Kamakura.

Cobra had managed to get their hands on another ninja. A not-at-all-bad-considering-his-age ninja.

Shit.

* * *

><p>"Snake Eyes, you're making me twitch," Firewall said finally, not looking away from the screen.<p>

Since she wasn't watching Snake Eyes' hands, Jinx translated for her. "He says you're making him twitch because you're being so slow." That wasn't _exactly_ what had been said, but Jinx didn't want to offend the only computer tech who wasn't busy analysing the recovered documents.

"I'm doing everything I can!" Firewall protested. "Do you know how many traffic cameras are in that particular area of the Serengeti? None! We only have two satellites over there too. Give me a few more minutes, alright?"

Snake Eyes huffed – his version of a frustrated growl – and stopped pacing, leaning against the wall. Jinx was sitting on the floor doing hamstring stretches to pass the time.

On a day when he wasn't really in the mood to count his blessings, Snake Eyes had to be grateful that Cheshire wasn't on site. She had been sent to California to interrogate a corrupt politician with Lady Jaye. He was hoping very much that Kamakura would be recovered safe and sound by the time she returned.

"Ha!" Firewall crowed suddenly. Snake Eyes was leaning over her shoulder before she had time to inhale. "Jeez!"

"What did you find?" Jinx demanded, mirroring Snake Eyes' position on her other side.

"Um, a photo!" Firewall announced happily. "Look, this is a van that was on the nearest highway half an hour after Kamakura disappeared. I got the licence plates too."

*They'll change those as soon as possible,* Snake Eyes signed.

"There are only a few options if they stay on the highway." Firewall started tapping away furiously. "Give me another few hours. I can track them down."

"We have bigger problems," Storm Shadow, standing in the doorway, announced. "Jinx, Snake, get to the control room _now._ This is bad."

Jinx and Snake Eyes both recognised that tone. When Tommy Arashikage used it, it meant they were up shit creek without a paddle and there was a waterfall right in front of them.


	4. Chapter 4

**To anyone who recognises the Yugioh Abridged reference, I will marry you.**

**Fair warning right here: This chapter is very grim. Not at all nice.**

**WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON...**

After what seemed like an eternity, Kamakura stirred.

Waking up after being beaten unconscious wasn't something he considered fun. Waking up after being shocked into unconsciousness was ten times worse. His mouth was dry, his ears were ringing, and his entire body ached. The fact that he had received at least two rifles to the head in the past twenty-four hours wasn't helping either.

"He's awake," a smug voice in the cell with him said.

Kamakura forced his eyes open, and glared at the Viper in the cell with him.

"Dead man walking." His voice was slurred, but not incomprehensible.

"Excuse me?" The Viper leaned forwards. "What was that, Sparky?"

Kamakura cleared his throat. "Dead man walking."

The Viper grinned nastily, and reached for the button, then apparently changed his mind and punched Kamakura in the face. "You've got a big mouth. Mindbender will fix that."

His mouth was full of blood and his head was lolling, and Kamakura _still_ thought that was an ominous statement.

"Doesn't..." He coughed and tried again. "Doesn't change the fact... when Snake Eyes gets here..."

"When Snake Eyes comes to rescue you, you mean?" the Viper laughed. "Keep telling yourself that, Sparky, 'cause it ain't happening."

_They finally thought to restrain my feet,_ Kamakura realised, eyeing the Viper in front of him sadly. _What a shame. I've got the best shot on someone's balls I've ever seen lined up right now..._

"Oi!" A casual slap rocked Kamakura's head. "You listenin'? I _said_, I knew your father."

"My father is dead," Kamakura muttered.

"Your biological father, dickhead."

"Hello pot, my name is kettle..." Kamakura murmured to himself. Then, louder, "I don't care."

The Viper just grinned. "You should. You really should."

With that, he stepped forwards again and punched Kamakura in the solar plexus, driving all the air out of him. Kamakura doubled over instinctively, and the Viper got in a nice, neat uppercut to the jaw that sent Kamakura's head slamming back into the wall.

"See," the Viper continued in a conversational tone, punching Kamakura in the ribs with a combination of jabs, "Your dad was a Viper. Got the big guys to thinking, maybe the son wouldn't make a bad Viper. They track you down, you're training to be a ninja, even better, right? Especially," the man stepped back and looked at his work with some satisfaction, "since we just lost Storm Shadow."

By that point, Kamakura was barely conscious. The Viper was a big man, almost as large as Roadblock, and he hadn't been pulling any punches. His whole body was one big mass of pain, and his shoulders especially were killing him.

He felt a rough hand grab his chin, and someone tilted his head up towards the light. "Still with me, Sparky? Smile for the camera."

Deep inside, Kamakura felt the same spark of defiance that had sent him to train under Snake Eyes in the first place stir. With a massive effort, he spat, sending a mouthful of blood right into the Viper's face.

The Viper didn't bother punching him anymore. He went for the button instead.

* * *

><p>Snake Eyes and Jinx entered the control room to find Hawk looking ready to pop a vein.<p>

"Enriched uranium!" he sputtered. "That's what they're after!"

Snake Eyes raised a startled eyebrow under his mask. Hawk never lost his cool. That was one of the constants of life: 'Ace always had at least one bet running', 'Lifeline will never shoot even the most annoying patient', 'Storm Shadow is usually the most annoying patient'... Right up there with those was 'Hawk never lost his cool.'

This was big. Very big.

"I'm almost in, sir," Breaker called from the console.

"What's going on?" Jinx demanded, poking Tommy in the ribs. Due to her status as the baby cousin of the most deadly ninja master on the planet (one of them, at least) she could get away with doing that. Anyone else would be wondering where they had misplaced their hand.

"Cobra is going after a group in the Middle East that snitched some old nukes," Tommy said grimly. "That force in the desert was them trying to make contact. Since we fucked that up for them, they went for the 'it's such a stupid idea nobody would be expecting it' route and decided to seize the nukes by force. The _really_ annoying thing is, it _was_ such a stupid idea, that nobody _was_ expecting it, and it _did _work. Breaker's trying to get the location of where they're keeping it now." He glanced over at Snake Eyes. "Any leads on Kamakura?"

Snake Eyes shook his head. Storm Shadow reached over and clasped his shoulder in support.

"Almost... there..." Breaker was hunched over like a gargoyle. "I'm in!" Windows were opening up on the screen faster than the eye could follow. "The data is popping up in terms of dates accessed, sir... oh fuck."

Everyone looked over to see what had made the normally contained Breaker swear so badly. There, prominent in the centre of the screen, was a file labelled VIEW ME FIRST, JOES.

This was less than good.

"It's a video file, sir," Breaker said, subdued.

"No viruses?"

"No sir. They couldn't do that without crashing themselves."

"Well, open it, son." Hawk's voice was deceptively mild.

Breaker did so wordlessly. The screen flickered into a colour-image. It showed Kamakura, slumped in the restraints.

Jinx and Tommy began cursing in Japanese. Snake Eyes hissed in rage.

"_Hello, Joes."_ It was Mindbender's voice. Tommy twitched when he heard it. _"I think it's safe to assume you know about the uranium by this point. Equally safe to say you have or are about to work out where it's being kept. So here's a little distraction for you."_

The large Viper stepped into view and casually began beating Kamakura. Without sound, the Joes couldn't hear their conversation, but the video quality was good enough that the entire room winced at each blow. Mindbender's voice-over continued.

"_I think you all know Sean Collins. He's being kept at a separate facility to the nuclear material, along with the rest of your trainees. You can't get to both of them, Snake Eyes. Have fun choosing, won't you?"_

On-screen, the Viper pressed a button and Kamakura shuddered and twitched, his jaw clenched in agony. Snake Eyes was snarling wordlessly as the Viper lifted his fists. Kamakura sagged, visibly unconscious.

"_If I were you, I wouldn't wait too long to decide. That many jolts... well, it isn't great for the human system. Trust me. I'm a doctor."_

The video ended, to dead silence in the control room.

Snake Eyes stared at the screen, breathing heavily, chest heaving with pure rage.

"Snake Eyes," Hawk said quietly. The commando turned to look at his commanding officer. "I need you for this raid."

Snake Eye stiffened in shock, but Hawk wasn't done. "I'm sorry, but _I need you_. The fate of the world versus one man. I need you to help me get the uranium back. I need you to not go after Kamakura."

"General," Scarlett began. Hawk held up his hand to silence her, his eyes not leaving Snake Eyes'.

"I know what I'm asking you to do. I know what it means. I need you to see the bigger picture. And I _am_ making this an order, soldier. I'm not making you choose. This is a direct order: you will not go after Kamakura until the primary mission objective is achieved."

*He's my apprentice,* Snake Eyes signed furiously. *He's my responsibility!*

"He's a soldier, and he knew the risks," Hawk said, not unkindly. "Snake Eyes, you are a soldier too. I am your CO, and _this is an order._"

The air was practically crackling with tension. Scarlett's eyes were fixed on her lover's face. Everybody else suddenly developed a burning interest in the floor.

Finally, slowly, Snake Eyes nodded.

Hawk's pulse was racing, his mouth was dry. He knew, _knew_, that he had never been this close to death before. He tried not to audibly sigh with relief. "Good. Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, Flint, Scarlett–" He began rattling off names, issuing them with orders to get ready for the mission. As he paused for breath, he realised that Duke was standing at his elbow.

"Sir," he said quietly. "I'm saying this as a warning, not a threat. If Kamakura is killed or crippled in any way, you realise that it is a possibility that Snake Eyes will come after you."

"I do," Hawk agreed.

"You also realise that nobody will be standing in his way." What he meant was nobody, barring Storm Shadow and Jinx, would be brave enough, and those two would probably be so pissed off about losing Kamakura that they would be handing Snake Eyes the pointy things on request as he stuck them into Hawk one at a time.

Hawk was Snake Eyes' commanding officer, and probably the person that the commando-ninja respected most on the planet. But Kamakura was his apprentice. It was something that not everyone understood, but something that everybody respected.

Hawk sighed. "I realise that too, Duke. Let's move out."

* * *

><p>Through a haze of pain, Kamakura felt the restraints around his wrists retract. He collapsed to the floor, unable to move his limbs. Rough hands seized him, hoisting him upright and dragging him from the room. They took him through several corridors, until finally they entered a laboratory.<p>

Mindbender was waiting for him.

* * *

><p><strong>A few points to clear up here: ok, so I don't really think Snake Eyes would kill Hawk. But I thought the importance of the whole apprentice bond should be stressed. I also think Duke is a bit of a douche bag, so I made him the one to say it and not Scarlett. <strong>

**The conversation about his father will be explained in the next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Wow, I only just realised how many chapters I begin with the character waking up from unconsciousness, so now I'm trying to avoid that.**

**Thanks to CrystalOfEllinon and Karama9 for their depictions of Storm Shadow, which were the influences for mine.**

**And yes, I did make up the information about Cobra's recruiting practices. It was just something that sounded plausible to me.**

**CONVENIENT**

_Shut up. Just stop. Just stop fucking whistling._

Kamakura gritted his teeth. Mindbender hadn't said a word to him since he had been strapped into the machine, but the damned evil lab rat was _whistling_. It was driving him made. It was like Chinese water torture, only more... tuneless.

_If I hear London Bridge one more time, I'm going to kick you off a bridge. After stabbing you. Or perhaps disembowelling you. _

He preferred to ignore the fact that it was likely neither of those things would happen. He was currently restrained, in a machine that looked suspiciously like the fabled Brainwave Scanner. This was a conclusion he was basing off not much evidence, though. He knew Storm Shadow had been in it more times than he cared to talk about. The Young Master was almost impossibly cheerful at all times (even after PT, which honestly Kamakura couldn't even comprehend) but mention that machine and he would shut right up, his face getting all closed and dark. Snake Eyes had been placed in it once, he knew, but again, he simply refused to discuss the experience, and Kamakura had never pressed the matter. He had assumed it was information that would never be relevant.

_Oh, the irony._

Mindbender's whistling, which had miraculously ceased for all of thirty seconds, started up again, and Kamakura sighed heavily. Mindbender, hearing the sound, glanced over.

"Philistine... this is a delicate piece of equipment requiring much calibration. I can't just press the big red button, you know."

Kamakura glared at the ceiling, refusing to deign him with an answer.

"Still," Mindbender continued happily, "This will certainly be easier on you than on some, given the... convenient circumstances."

_I won't ask. I will not ask, you bald freak. You can go right ahead and tell me yourself._

He began concentrating on his breathing, sinking easily into meditation patterns. Mindbender held out for at least four minutes by Kamakura's count, then caved.

"I mean, of course, all the preparatory work that your father performed."

Despite himself, Kamakura's breath faltered. Mindbender noticed.

"Oh yes, didn't you know? Your father – your _real_ father – he was so very excited for his son to grow up and become a Viper like him."

"Liar!" Kamakura burst out. He barely remembered his first father, but surely nobody would do that to their child... would they?

"That got your attention, didn't it?" Mindbender laughed... no, that was a _cackle_. "How else do you think Cobra recruits? Wanted ads? Craigslist? We target people with families. With _young sons._ Malleable minds. _Clay_." He suddenly looked disgruntled. "If not for that damned ninja, you'd be fighting for us right now without even a second glance."

"You're dead when Snake Eyes finds me," Kamakura told him with supreme confidence.

"Hm. I doubt that. You see, by then, you'll be reprogrammed. You'll be the first line of defence. To get to _me_, Snake Eyes will have to cut his way through _you._" Mindbender was positively gleeful at the prospect.

"Just a few more minutes, and you can resume the role you were _born_ to play."

Kamakura closed his eyes and began meditation once more.

* * *

><p>The mood in Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow's transport was a few shades south of 'murderous'. Scarlett, Dusty and Stalker, the only ones brave enough to actually get on a plane with the two ninja, discussed the upcoming mission among themselves in low voices. Storm and Snake sat facing one another, not conversing, just sharpening their various pointed weapons.<p>

Storm Shadow could feel Snake Eyes' dejection from his side of the plane. He understood it too. To the other members of the team, Kamakura was just some kind of protégé of Snake Eyes'. To the ninja, he was his apprentice. The difference was immense. And now Snake Eyes felt like he was abandoning the one person in the world who had the greatest claim upon him.

Well... apart from Scarlett. She got there first, after all.

"You got ordered to leave him," Storm Shadow said quietly in Japanese. "It wasn't a choice. It wasn't your fault."

*Don't,* Snake Eyes signed shortly. *Just don't. I'll do my job.*

Storm Shadow nodded wisely. A big part of being a warrior was knowing when to back off. It was an even bigger part of being a friend.

* * *

><p>Jinx sighed, leaning back against the co-pilot seat in the Dragonfly. She was missing Kamakura. Damned puppy-dog eyes... She, like her cousin, knew how Snake Eyes must be feeling. She felt somewhat the same. God damn it, she had <em>seen <em>him go to help those greenshirts. She should have kept an eye on him. He wasn't her apprentice, but that didn't matter, he was younger, and junior: he was her _responsibility._

"Jinx!" an excited voice said in her ear. Firewall was one of a few techs left behind at the Pit, part of a mandatory skeleton crew.

"What?" Jinx sighed.

"I found them! Kamakura and the greenshirts, I know where they are!"

"What!" Jinx said bolt upright, ignoring the startled look Wild Bill was giving her.

"It was really hard. I tracked them with–"

"Firewall, I don't care." Jinx cut her off brutally. "Where are they?"

"I'll send the co-ordinates to you," Firewall told her sadly. In a small voice, she added, "It _was_ really hard."

"I'll let you tell me how hard it was when I get back with Kamakura," Jinx promised her. "What details do you have?"

"Um, cargo ship of some kind, in the dock 'unloading'." Jinx could tell Firewall was putting quotation marks around that last word. "Owned by a shell corporation that will probably end up tracing back to the Twins."

"Goddamn," Jinx breathed. "Bill, these co-ordinates, look how close they are to the nukes."

"Overconfident fools," the Texan drawled. "You know, we keep to this course, we'll pass that boat ten clicks to the south."

"Brilliant." Jinx reached for the button to connect her to Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, then hesitated.

"You going to call someone?" Wild Bill prompted her, glancing at her hand an inch away from the comm. button.

"No," Jinx said quietly. "No, I'm not. He got ordered not to do this. Hawk needs them both there to break in." They both knew who she was talking about. "I, on the other hand..." She glanced at Bill and smiled a truly wicked smile. "Don't suppose I could trouble you for a lift?"

"Girl, I get caught pulling a stunt like this, I'll be damned lucky not to get court-marshalled!" Bill barked. Then, catching sight of Jinx's startled face, he grinned. "Still, if I were to get lost... and you were to fall out of the chopper... the only responsible thing a man could do is wait in the area for you to come on back with whatever friends you might make."

"No, you need to get to the battle once you've dropped me off," Jinx told him. "Bring back something with more room to transport people. Bring Lifeline too. From the looks of things, Kamakura was pretty badly beat up."

"Kid's tough," Bill told her gruffly. "He'll be fine."

* * *

><p>Half an hour later, Bill had his chopper a second away from passing over the boat. Jinx, clad in a bird-man suit, waited in the open doorway to jump.<p>

"You be careful, you hear?" Bill roared over the wind. Jinx held her hand up in the universal 'ok' sign, finger and thumb pressed together, then gathered herself and jumped out of the helicopter, towards the boat thousands of meters below.


	6. Chapter 6

**I have no idea if I wrote the birdman drop correctly. If my maths is faulty... yeah, I kind of don't care. Feel free to send me a PM to correct it, but please know I will just copy and paste your answer into my fic. Yeah. Not big on research. You may have guessed.**

**Also, someone pointed out that Jinx trained under the Blind Master and was better at fighting blindfolded than she was at fighting when she could see, meaning she should have the Ear that Sees. I have seen that part of the movie several times, and I still think it makes absolutely less than zero sense. I mean, GI Joe isn't going to hire someone who has to run around wearing a blindfold in order to be halfway competent. So I've decided to ignore it. Thanks for the feedback, though.**

**ADRENALINE**

It is a safe assumption to say that ninja are, without exception, adrenaline junkies. They get into fights where they were vastly outnumbered _on purpose_, they scale impossible heights without safety lines or harnesses, and they had carried out more than one assassination mid-air, bailing from an exploding plane at the last moment. Jinx was a ninja born and bred, and she had successfully completed her fair share of mission through being simply so fucking crazy that her opponents had surrendered rather than keep fighting. Needless to say, jumping out of a helicopter was one of her favourite pastimes.

Now, air pounding her face as she drew closer to the ship, she still couldn't hide a thrill of excitement. This was the life. This was the good life. Lots of weapons, even more people to use those weapons on...

She sighed happily through her nose, the sound lost in the rushing wind.

As she reached the last hundred metres, she levelled out, swooping low over the ships, twisting to avoid chimneys and prows. The target ship was three hundred metres ahead... two hundred... one hundred...

At twenty metres, she pulled her chute. The jerk on her shoulders pulled her upright and slowed her dramatically; a few seconds later, she shed the chute, letting it drop into the water as she cleared the railing of the ship and rolled into the shadows of a pile of crates. Ten seconds later, a guard rounded the corner, passing her hiding place completely unaware.

Jinx didn't have her cousin's Ear that Sees, but she had something even more useful on an echoing, creaking, groaning, noisy ship. With one hand, she reached into her uniform, pulled out a pair of goggles, and popped them over her head. Breaker had handed these to her a few missions ago, warning her not to crack them or damage them in any way. She couldn't quite remember why... something about bad hair, she thought. Now, she pulled them over her head, and grinned in sheer delight.

The ship was laid bare before her. It was like something out of _The Dark Knight._ She could see through walls, see the entire lay-out of the ship, and see the green, human-shape of people as they moved about their business.

In one room, near her position, she could see four people clustered together, sitting or leaning on one another as if for comfort. There were several guards outside.

Jinx hesitated for less than a second. The greenshirts needed help. Besides, she couldn't just come back for them after she had found Mindbender's lab and wreaked unholy havoc in it. Without further ado, she headed off in their direction.

It was less than thirty seconds before she ran across her first camera. It was in a corner, situated so that it could see both corridors at once. It was not situated so that it could see the ceiling. Jinx grinned, hoisted herself up into the pipes, and began eeling her way to the camera. In her pocket, she carried what the techs called a 'loop-de-loop'. It took over a camera network and screened out anybody carrying a certain device emitting harmless electronic pulses. Jinx, of course, was carrying such a device.

She reached the ceiling over the camera, took a good grip with her legs, and swung down to wind the loop-de-loop around the camera's cables with both hands, ensuring it got a good grip. Though she couldn't see it, after five seconds, the electricity running through the cables activated the device, and a thousand microscopic spikes shot out of it into the cable.

She counted to thirty to be safe, and dropped to the floor. The ceiling was safer, but it was simply too slow.

* * *

><p>Private Luckman – known, of course, as Lucky – was not in such a great mood. In fact, he was supremely pissed off. He had gotten drugged, captured, dumped in a tiny, cramped, hot, humid room, and to top things off, there was a woman in his group and he was fairly certain that he recognised one of the guards outside as someone who had featured on <em>America's Most Wanted <em>as a violent sex offender. And he was feeling seasick.

Adamson, who was leaning against him nursing a wounded arm, groaned, trying to turn it into a sigh but failing miserably. Lucky's head shot up. "What, Adamson?"

"Nothing. It's nothing." His pale face worried him. Private Jabeer had bandaged the wound as soon as she had come to, but that had been too long ago, and Adamson had lost too much blood before that point.

"It's not nothing," Jabeer snarled now, inspecting the injury. "This needs medical attention."

"Well we don't _have_ medical attention," Adamson snarled back weakly. "So _it is nothing._ Lucky?"

Lucky had rolled to his knees, and stumbled across to the door. Now, he was banging on it, yelling. "Hey! Hey, in here!"

The door was flung open, and the ugly bulk of one of the Viper guards appeared, filling the space. "What?"

Lucky stood his ground, or rather, swayed his ground. "My friend is injured. We need antiseptic and sterile bandages. And water."

The guard stared at his incredulously. "Are you fucking kidding, asshole?"

"No." Lucky didn't even blink. "Antiseptic, sterile bandages, water. Water first."

The guard spat on the ground. "There. Water." Then, he slammed the door behind him.

Lucky shrugged wearily. "Worth a shot."

"I'm fine, Lucky, really," Adamson protested weakly.

"You're a terrible liar," Lucky told him. "But it doesn't matter. This won't last long."

"How do you figure?" Jabeer asked curiously. Hammond, the fourth member of the group, leaned forwards curiously.

"I heard the fuckwits outside saying that the point of this kidnapping was to catch a ninja. They got Kamakura. We were just brought along for the ride." Lucky settled himself comfortably. "Which means that Snake Eyes is pissed off and on his way here. He'll probably bring Storm Shadow, Scarlett and Jinx along too. When those guys get here, there'll be hell to pay. I wouldn't be surprised if they're on the boat right now."

At that instant, the door swung open. The greenshirts surged to their feet, and stopped, looking at Jinx, standing in the doorway smiling at them under her mask. "You're half right." Behind her, they could see the crumpled forms of the guards.

The greenshirts were out of the room almost instantly, Hammond supporting Adamson. Lucky seized one of the guards rifles and took up a guard position, covering his friends as they tried to organise themselves. "How am I half right, ma'am?"

"Jinx." Despite the teasing tone, she kept her voice low. "I'm on the boat already, and there will be hell to pay. But it's just me. Quick, put on their uniforms."

"Snake Eyes..." Lucky could almost see their chances of survival diminishing as he stripped off his stained clothing.

"He was ordered to be somewhere else," she said shortly. "What's your situation?"

"Adamson is injured. We're all dehydrated and hungry," Lucky reported matter-of-factly.

"So we need to get you all out. I had to disable the security camera, so they'll know something's up by now. Shame you didn't have loop-de-loops, mine was working perfectly."

Lucky frowned at her, confused. Suddenly, a horrible thought occurred to him. "Ah... Jinx..."

"Yes?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Loop-de-loops... they're meant for missions where the techs can't hack in, aren't they? Missions where it's one operative _on their own_?" he lowered his voice to ask the last question.

Jinx sighed. This kid was no fool. "Yes."

"You're the only one here?" Lucky hissed. Then he followed his train of reasoning a step further and swore again. "You're not even meant to be here, are you?"

"I don't like your tone, private," Jinx snarled. "Listen. Cobra got its hands on uranium. That's the bigger problem. Be thankful I decided to disobey orders and come and rescue your sorry asses!"

Lucky looked away. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"We need to get you lot out of here. Like I said, I broke the camera in this room, so it won't be long before someone comes down here to check. You take them out. I'm going to get to the control room and shut down all the cameras. When that happens, you get out."

"Shutting down all the cameras will tip them all off to something being wrong," Hammond said from his corner of the room. "Besides, you don't have the time. You need to get Kamakura."

Jinx frowned. The greenshirt looked back steadily.

"He's right, Jinx," Lucky interrupted. "No disrespect, but we've all heard what a nightmare Storm Shadow was when he was working for Cobra. We don't want to go through the same thing with Kamakura. He's a friend. I'd feel real bad shooting at him."

Jinx gritted her teeth. "I am not abandoning you."

"We have guns," Hammond pointed out. "and the element of surprise."

"We also don't have a lot of time," Jabeer prodded, bracing Adamson.

That made up Jinx's mind. "Alright. The way out is up two floors, left, left and left again, and then the second corridor to your right. Shoot whoever you see."

"We will," Jabeer said fervently, grasping a pistol she had taken from one of the guards with her free hand.

"Good luck," Jinx said briefly, before disappearing into the corridor.

The greenshirts looked at each other. Lucky grinned. "So. Good luck."

Hammond smiled as well. "Same to you, you crazy bastard."

* * *

><p>Jinx was waiting for him two corners on, and she was pissed off. Of course, her being a ninja, the first Lucky knew about it was when he was pinned to the wall with a knife hovering in front of his eyeball.<p>

"I told you to _leave_," she snarled.

"I got lost," Lucky said blandly.

"That's bull!"

"Isn't that what the Joes always say when they do something they're not supposed to?" He was tempted to add that his first choice of cover story would have been: "I was disorientated from a mine," but the facts that there weren't any mines lying around and that Jinx looked to be in a murderous mood made him reconsider.

"You aren't a Joe yet," Jinx hissed.

"We're wasting time, Jinx." Lucky tried not to swallow.

"You will be in _so_ much pain come time for hand-to-hand combat," Jinx promised. "I will make you regret the day your mother and father made eye contact for the first time."

"I'd say the main lab is that way," Lucky posited, pointing at the roof. "All the power cables and conduits are running in that direction."

"You will be even more dead if this is wrong," Jinx informed him.

"I know," Lucky sighed. "I know"

**Sorry everyone, I know, not much action, but I'm getting to the good stuff, I swear. next chapter!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Wow, this fic ended up a lot longer than I imagined! Still, wrapping it up now.**

**Also, someone pointed out that Jinx trained under the Blind Master and was better at fighting blindfolded than she was at fighting when she could see, meaning she should have the Ear that Sees. I have seen that part of the movie several times, and I still think it makes absolutely less than zero sense. I mean, GI Joe isn't going to hire someone who has to run around wearing a blindfold in order to be halfway competent. So I've decided to ignore it. Thanks for the feedback, though.**

**Also, thanks to CrystalOfEllinon's totally excellent fic _Yabba Dabba Joes_ for the idea of Scarlett being a coffee fiend. Seriously. Read it. It's wet-yourself-laughing funny.**

**IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME**

They had found the source of the cables. Jinx now crouched down, peering through the wall, relaying instructions to Lucky, who was pretending to tie up his boot. Hopefully the camera quality wasn't good enough for anyone in the control room to realise that he wasn't a Viper. He was relying on the uniform and the fact that he had kept his face turned away from the cameras for protection. A weak plan, but the best that they had.

"Four guards outside the door," Jinx breathed. "Two people inside the room. One standing, one restrained."

"Kamakura and Mindbender," Lucky replied, retying his boot for the third time.

"Bastard," Jinx muttered. "I'll take out the guards. You follow me in and cover the door. We grab Kamakura, take Mindbender hostage and get the hell out."

"I'll take point and distract the guards, get them to open the door," Lucky announced.

"I'll take them from above," Jinx agreed. "Give me thirty seconds."

Lucky stood and stretched elaborately for the camera, counting in his head as he did so. Then, as soon as he had reached 'thirty-Mississippi' he sauntered around the corner, waving at the four guards outside the door as he did so.

"Hey, let me in. I have a message for the doctor."

"Don't remember you," one grunted, staring at him suspiciously.

"How is that my problem?" Lucky snapped. "Communications sent me down with a sensitive message, now open the fucking door so I can deliver it and get back to my fucking coffee!" He was basing his performance off one Shana O'Hara, pre-PT. She was a monster before she got her first caffeine fix. Nobody, and that means _nobody_ got in her way in the morning.

The guards looked at each other and shrugged. One turned and punched a combination into the door-pad. The door opened with a hiss and Lucky felt cold air hit his face.

Hurling two shuriken, Jinx detached from the ceiling and dropped down into the crowd like a shadow of death. Lucky pulled his gun, but he didn't have to use it; Jinx's throwing-stars had cut two tracheas, and the paired sai she pulled from her belt took care of the other two before they had a chance to scream.

The open door beckoned.

Mindbender's lab was cold and sterile. The white walls were a harsh change from the damp, dark corridors of the ship. Jinx slid inside, weapons at the ready.

She couldn't see Kamakura; the Brainwave Scanner was facing the other way. She took another step. Mindbender was puttering around at a table, his back to her. She hesitated. It was a great shot... too great...

Mindbender hummed a little louder, and bent to look through a microscope. Jinx's teeth were beginning to ache. Always a warning sign.

Without looking up, Mindbender pressed a button on a console she hadn't registered up until now. There was a faint cry of pain from the person strapped down in the Scanner. It was Kamakura's voice; she would swear by it.

In thirteen seconds, she had crossed the room and pressed a sword to Mindbender's back. He froze. "Shut down the machine and release Kamakura," Jinx growled. "One chance, or I cripple you."

"Jinx," Mindbender breathed. "I will admit, I wasn't expecting you here. Where is Snake Eyes, or even Storm Shadow?"

"Release him." Jinx pressed a little harder.

"Very well." Mindbender tapped a command into the console. Then, his finger hovering over the button, he murmured, "You ninja. I'm not really sure you're worth the trouble."

He pressed the button, and Jinx heard the sounds of the Scanner's restraints releasing. She resisted the urge to turn around. She didn't trust Mindbender at all.

"Kamakura!" she called over her shoulder. "Can you hear me? Are you alright?"

"He's been better," a familiar voice said smugly.

Jinx whirled, but she was too slow. Even as she brought her sword up, something hard struck her in the side, and she suddenly lost all feeling in her arms and legs. She dropped to the floor like a rag doll, grunting in pain as her head bounced on the tiles.

Zarana stood above her, smirking. "The Joes just never learn, do they?"

"Indeed," Mindbender agreed. "Call the guard in, please, Zarana."

"Do it yourself, ya bald ponce," Zarana snapped, her smile disappearing. "I'm not your assistant."

Jinx groaned, and with phenomenal effort, moved her lips. "Kmkwa."

"Kamakura? Oh, thank you for reminding me. We have to finish the process, don't we?" Mindbender turned to the door and called, "Vipers! Attend!"

The door burst open, and a single figure appeared. "Doctor, your guards are dead! I think a ninja–"

Jinx raised an eyebrow. _Lucky?_

"The ninja's been taken care of, buddy," Zarana said impatiently.

Lucky approached, eyes wide. "You took out a Joe _ninja_, ma'am? Holy fuck! That's incredible. Did you break her neck? Did you knock her out?"

"I'm not my brother," Zarana snapped. "I used my brain."

"_My_ brain, I think you mean," Mindbender interrupted sharply. "_My_ axon-scrambler."

"Did you kill her?" Lucky asked eagerly, jigging from foot to foot.

"No, merely paralysed her. Give Zarana some help bringing the other one back out," Mindbender said shortly. "And hurry. The effects of the scrambler won't last forever, you know."

Lucky jogged over to a concealed doorway, and helped Zarana wheel out a gurney. Kamakura was strapped to it. Jinx's eyes widened. Mindbender saw, and began snickering. "Zarana is quite the mime, isn't she? She got that pathetic little whimper perfectly correct after only hearing it once." His smug smile sent Jinx's pulse skyrocketing.

Zarana had leaned the axon-scrambler against the machine. Lucky bumped it with his foot, sending it rolling across the floor. "I'm sorry!" he yelped, scrambling after it and picking it up. "It's heavy."

"It's not _heavy_," snorted Zarana.

"Heavier than I thought it would be," Lucky amended. "Is it like a taser, you know, touch and press?" He twirled it experimentally, then stuck it into Zarana's stomach and pushed the button. She spasmed and then fell like a puppet whose strings had been cut. "Yep," Lucky continued cheerfully. "Just like a taser."

Mindbender fell back in fright. "What are you doing? Who are you? VIPERS!"

"Dead. Jinx, can you move?" Lucky asked urgently, reaching down and pulling her to her feet.

Jinx grunted, and grabbed the gurney for support. "No... no. Not yet."

"Fuck. We need to _go_." Lucky glanced around frantically.

Jinx looked down and grinned. "This probably isn't what you had in mind, but what the hell. Help me up." She slapped the gurney.

Lucky looked at her closely. "What are you _on_?"

"Right now, adrenaline. Really, help me up. You can wheel us to the stairs on it."

Lucky was beginning to get on board with the plan. "Right. And nobody will stop us because–" fast as lightning, he spun and axon-scrambled Mindbender, "–you'll have a gun to the boss's head."

"Private Luckman, you will make a fine G.I. Joe." Jinx let him lift her onto the end of the gurney, and accepted a pistol. Lucky then reached down and dragged Mindbender up to drape him over Kamakura's legs, strapping him in place. "Just tuck his head under my arm and I'll put the pistol under his chin and we should be fine."

"This plan is nuts. Are you sure it will work?"

"Well, I'm bad luck, and you're good luck, so we should cancel each other out, right?"

"Uh... sure. I just hope nobody chases us too soon. Need momentum." Lucky got to the head of the gurney, took a deep breath, and began pushing.

They made it almost halfway before someone began chasing them.

* * *

><p>It was like something out of a bad action movie: a gurney, flying down the halls of a cargo ship, with bullets ricocheting off the walls around them. Lucky was hanging onto the back for dear life, steering them around corners with pushes of his feet like a skateboarder maintaining momentum. Jinx was bouncing around on the front of the gurney, using her hold on Mindbender's head to stay in place.<p>

"I HOPE THE CAMERAS ARE RECORDING THIS!" she yelled back to Lucky.

"WHY?"

"BECAUSE I'M GOING TO MAKE BREAKER OR FIREWALL HACK IN AND RETRIEVE THE FOOTAGE! I WANT PROOF OF EXACTLY HOW FUCKING AWESOME I AM!"

"WE'RE GOING TO DIE! YOU'RE BOTH INSANE!" Mindbender yelled.

Jinx shrugged. "Shouldn't have pissed us off then, Doc. LEDGE!"

Heeding her warning, Lucky drew both feet up, and he and Jinx ducked their heads. The gurney hit the ledge, flew a metre or so without the wheels touching the ground, then landed with a thump and careened onwards, swaying wildly.

"HOW MUCH FURTHER?" Lucky's teeth were rattling hard.

"TWO MORE CORNERS!"

"CAN YOU MOVE?"

"I THINK SO! I'LL TAKE KAMAKURA, YOU CAN TAKE THE SLIMEBALL!"

The gurney turned the last corner and Jinx found herself face to face with an ambush of three Vipers. "Don't shoot!" she yelled, pressing the pistol to Mindbender's chin.

"Don't shoot!" he yelled, eyes wide with fear.

"Don't shoot who?" Lucky, behind Jinx, stuck his head out to the side to see. The perilous balance of the gurney, stretched to its limit as it took the turn, was tipped by this one simple action. The entire contraption tipped sideways and went flying into the Vipers, wheels first. Lucky jumped free, rolling along the ground until a wall stopped his progress. With a slight grunt he straightened and leaped to his feet. Jinx was lying on the ground near him, Kamakura's limp form clutched in her arms. Lucky sprinted over.

"I thought he was strapped down!" he exclaimed, scooping up the pistol and spinning around to shoot a Viper who had been reaching for his weapon.

Jinx grinned lopsidedly and wriggled the knife she clutched in one hand. "Ninja. Quick, you take Kamakura and I'll take point."

"The slimeball?" Lucky enquired, glancing over at Mindbender, lying under the gurney and groaning.

"Not enough arms," Jinx grunted. "Leave him. Take Kamakura!"

Lucky bent and scooped one arm around Kamakura's ribcage. "Uh. Heavy old lump, isn't he?"

"Hurry, please," Jinx led him up the stairs, swords at the ready. Her X-ray goggles were hopelessly smashed by this point; she pushed them back to sit on her head.

The deck of the ship was oddly deserted. Jinx glanced around suspiciously. Her instincts were humming again. "Come on," she hissed, leading him through a patch of shadows to the railing. "Step softly."

At the railings, they paused, surrounded by crates. "Something's wrong," Jinx breathed, placing her mouth right near Lucky's ear. "I'll get rope, we'll make a sling, lower Kamakura down. Guard him."

Jinx had spotted a pile of rope a few metres from the exterior crates. She slipped out of cover, seized it, and turned to go back, then froze. There was a scratching noise, tiny but audible, from the exterior of the ship.

A hand reached up and grasped the railing. Jinx waited until a head encased in some kind of dark helmet emerged as the assailant hoisted themselves onto the deck, then lunged forwards without a sound and threw the figure as hard as she could against a pile of crates.

"DAMMIT NINJA!" A second figure had appeared.

"Sergeant Beach Head!" Jinx gasped, dropping the rope.

"Yew don't go attackin' your own folks on a gawd-damned rescue op! 'Specially when you're the one bein' rescued!" Beach Head pulled off his helmet and glared at her through his balaclava.

"Who did I throw?" Jinx asked, wanting desperately to laugh but knowing she shouldn't.

There was a groan, and the figure she had hurled against some very hard crates reached up to pull off his helmet as well. "'Hey, Wet Suit, there's a mission on that would be perfect for you,'" the SEAL said, running his fingers through his hair. "'You can infiltrate a boat for us. Come give us a hand saving Jinx and Kamakura from the big bad Vipers.' Did any of the big bad Vipers make it?"

"Well, we shot some, and then we took out three with a gurney– Beach Head, where's Lifeline?" Jinx asked suddenly and urgently.

"He's coming," Beach Head rumbled. "They sent us and the spooks ahead to clear the deck."

"The deck is clear," Storm Shadow said, emerging from the crates next to Wet Suit just to make the man jump. He was carrying Kamakura's top half, followed by Lucky, supporting the apprentice's legs. "Lifeline can come aboard. In fact, tell him to get his ass in gear. Kamakura's in bad shape." He nodded to his cousin. "Kimi."

Jinx nodded back. "Tommy."

"Nice work," he added gruffly in Japanese, setting Kamakura down gently. "Proud of you." He paused. "Did you just say 'gurney'?"

A minute later, and Tommy was helping Lifeline onto the deck of the ship. Snake Eyes had appeared and was crouched down by Kamakura, leaning over him like a worried hound.

"Snakes, move over," Lifeline said briskly, snapping on a light and using it to inspect Kamakura. "Hm. Drugged, dehydrated, took a good beating too. He can be moved, though." Snapping the light off, Lifeline gave Tommy a stern glare. "Which you _already_ did without consulting me."

As Kamakura was loaded onto his second gurney of the day, Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow and Jinx stood watching. "They wanted one of you," Beach Head said, coming up beside them. "Ah spoke to Luckman and th'other greenies, the three who got out first. We picked 'em up on our way in. They were usin' Kamakura as bait for all of yew."

"I suppose Zarana and Mindbender got away?" Jinx asked dispiritedly.

"Yeah, Wet Suit found a submarine bay at the bottom of the ship." Beach Head clapped Jinx on the shoulder. "Hey, you did good."

"Yeah." Jinx sighed, leaning against her cousin for a moment. "Yeah, I guess."

"Uh, Jinx?" Tommy said suddenly, putting a hand to his ear. "Breaker wants to talk to you."

Jinx reached up and took Tommy's earpiece. "What is it, Breaker?"

"_Jinx! I don't like the readings I'm getting right now! Are those goggles intact?"_

"Ah, about those... now you get to make new ones! Silver lining, right?"

"_GET THOSE OFF NOW!"_

"I thought you said they'd just mess up my hair."

Breaker's voice went weak. _"I said if you damaged those, radiation would almost certainly fry your brain. I then added, as a JOKE, that it would give you a bad hair day for years to come."_

Jinx ripped the goggles from her head and threw them down the deck, as far as they would go.

*Look at it this way,* Snake Eyes signed. *Your hair isn't messed up.*


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm a sucker for gushy epilogues, I'll warn you now. Back to Kamakura's point of view!**

**The things in **_**italics**_** are the thoughts from the Scanner. The things in **_**'italics and quotation marks'**_** are his thoughts in response to them.**

**Many thanks to WestAero13 for being my beta. You da best!**

**THE SECOND GURNEY**

Kamakura had been drifting in and out of consciousness ever since Mindbender had given him that final injection. Flashes of thought and awareness reached him through the fog. Needles of pain wracked his body.

_He would pledge allegiance to the Commander. He would follow the Commander. Each day he would begin by – _

'_What? No, I won't!'_

He was strapped down, and he could hear Jinx's voice. A heavy weight was draped over his legs, and he was moving very fast.

_The Joes were the whorish sword of the hedonistic America. Pitted with rust, trampling the little guy, wallowing in hypocrisy –_

'_I don't believe that! You're wrong.'_

It was dark, and he was lying on something hard and cold, no longer strapped down. A bright light was shining in his eyes. Behind it, he could see a huge blur of red – _Lifeline –_ and on the other side, a patch of darkness that was darker than the night behind it. _Snake Eyes._

_The ninjas are traitors. Storm Shadow is to be saved to reunite with his beloved Cobra brothers, but first it is important that the murderer Snake Eyes dies. Only then can – _

'_No! No, no, no, no, no! I will not betray my master! I will not! You're wrong. I don't believe you! I DON'T!'_

He was in a helicopter. Lifeline was still there. So was his sensei. Someone was holding his hand; he thought it was Jinx. Lifeline kept talking to him, telling him to stay awake. It was really hard though. Kamakura didn't want to. He was finally warm, and he wanted to sleep. But the voices wouldn't shut up…

Someone laid a hand on his forehead. Against his feverish, sweaty skin it felt like ice.

"Lifeline, he's burning up, you have to do _something._"

"Jinx?" Kamakura mumbled, trying to hear through the clamour in his head.

"I'm here, Kamakura, I'm here and so is Tommy and Snake Eyes…"

_It is important that the murderer Snake Eyes dies._

"Dies," Kamakura sighed, repeating the voice – to challenge it? To acknowledge its superiority? To make it real?

'_No! I – Don't – Believe you!'_

"No, nobody died."

"Sensei… trouble…" Kamakura turned restlessly against his restraints, his face creasing into a fretful frown. "Don't…"

"Shhh," Jinx crooned, stroking his forehead again. "It's ok, it's all ok."

"My head hurts," Kamakura whispered. "My head… they're all talking at once... Ungh!"

"Lifeline!" Tommy called. "Hurry it up, would you?"

_You will kill the Joes. You will kill the ninjas. You will cede dominance to the mighty legions of COBRA!_

"NO!" Kamakura began thrashing and struggling. Jinx threw herself over his legs as Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes tried to hold down his arms and torso.

"The hell is going on here?" Beach Head yelled, storming down the length of the cargo plane towards them. "Lifeline!"

"_I am working on it,_" Lifeline snarled, desperately filling a syringe. "Hold him still!"

Kamakura was used to silence – he hadn't trained with the How Was Your Day? Master – but the abyss he fell into after Lifeline gave him another injection was terrifying.

* * *

><p>His eyes were open, but it was a long time before he registered that he was seeing things, and even then, the information came to him in bits and drops.<p>

The lights were on.

The ceiling was white. He knew that ceiling well.

He was in the infirmary.

Snake Eyes was next to his bed.

*How are you?* he signed. *Pain?*

"Master," Sean mumbled. _Everything that came before would be a tedious preamble to the glory ahead. He would bring light. He would restore peace and justice to the land._

*Sean, how are you?*

_Not this nonsense called democracy that the Americans were so proud of. This nonsense of government by the people of a worthless country filled with nothing more than possessions and desires. _

"I don't want to talk about it."

*Tell me.*

_They had been spoiled now for several generations and they were ripe for the taking. _

To his intense shame, Kamakura felt a single tear roll down his cheek. "If I tell you then it means I believe them. I don't want you to hate me. I'm not –" He stuttered to a halt, unable to express himself properly, unable to explain how the fact that the voices even _existed_ meant that he was unfit to be an apprentice. A real ninja would have beaten them by now. A real ninja would have beaten them at the very beginning. He wasn't worth his sensei's time.

Snake Eyes leaned forward intensely. *That will not happen. Whatever you are feeling now is not your fault.* Kamakura looked away and Snake Eyes grabbed his chin, forcing his head back so that Kamakura had to meet his gaze. *What happened was Mindbender's fault. Nobody else's. I will never hate you or blame you for it.*

Deep inside, Kamakura felt hope stir. He took a deep, shuddering breath, and mumbled, "I keep hearing voices, and they're telling me I have to kill you. They're telling me America is evil."

Snake Eyes' body tensed with fear and worry. *Don't listen to them.*

"They won't shut up." Oh god, now he was whining like a five-year-old.

*Neither does Jinx, and you don't listen to her.*

Kamakura laughed. He knew he should be in pain, but he actually felt quite delightful with the burden lifted from his mind. "Yes, Sensei. Hey, Sensei?"

Snake Eyes tilted his head.

"Why am I tied down?"

*I'm telling Lifeline not to give you any more morphine.*

* * *

><p>He drifted off again after that. When he resurfaced, Snake Eyes hadn't gone anywhere, but was dozing in his chair.<p>

The morphine was wearing off and he could think more clearly. That wasn't necessarily a good thing; without anyone to distract him, he couldn't fail to realise what had escaped him before.

The voice in his head was that of his father. His biological father. The man who, according to Mindbender, had groomed him to become a Viper.

He wasn't his father. He was a better man… but was he?

Kamakura had killed. He had sabotaged. He had felt rage fill him up until he was ready to explode, and he had experienced deep despair, and he had taken both of those emotions out on others. He had willingly turned himself into a weapon, a human being whose training was aimed at the sole purpose of harming others.

Or, he had sacrificed normality to protect others.

Why did that second argument sound so weak?

He wasn't his father. Surely who your parents were didn't matter?

Except they did. Snake Eyes had accepted him as an apprentice because of who his father was. Now that very loyalty, forged in war, had almost been the source of his betrayal.

"No," Kamakura muttered. "I'm not my father."

Snake Eyes stirred and cocked his head sleepily. Kamakura looked at him and repeated, "I'm not my father. I won't be."

Snake Eyes sigh-yawned and signed, *You're a better man than either father, Sean. I knew them both, and neither could measure up to you.*

"Thanks, Sensei," Kamakura muttered, eyes sliding closed.

The voices in his head were finally quiet.


End file.
